For nearly a year before family separation became an official and controversial policy of the Trump administration in the spring of 2018, federal immigration agents separated “thousands” of migrant children from their parents. That’s according to a government watchdog report released Thursday.
“OIG found more children over a longer period of time were separated by immigration authorities and referred to HHS for care than is commonly discussed in public debate. How many more children were separated is unknown by us and HHS,” Ann Maxwell, assistant inspector general for evaluations at the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters.
She said HHS officials estimated the number of children was in the “thousands” but would not give a more exact figure.
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